Our objective has always been to create brands (and their shows) that serve our audiences at scale—fulfilling the new generation's want for constant, multi-platform, and studio-produced series that adheres to a consistent programming schedule. Our goal was not to practice the built-if-sold model, but rather let our audiences speak to the content they wanted to watch.
Fourfold Strategy:
1. Research & Understanding
Through our Acumen insights research team, we constantly uncover the evolution of teen and Millennial media consumption habits via three initiatives: the most extensive annual study of youth media trends where we take a deep-dive in qualitative and quantitative analysis; a collection of studies and articles from recognized leaders and pubs in the youth space; our proprietary panel that provides regular feedback on topics and questions of interest to us and our partners. These insights provide our in-house creative talent the tools to develop a broad range of scheduled programming.
2. Content Development
All of our content is created in-house by 150 person team of off and on-camera talent. Because we own and operate all of our content, we have an accelerated green-light process to continue our new content offerings, and the ability to quickly adjust our series based on immediate fan feedback. To date, we have created over 8,000 videos across 66+ series for our brands—extending across multiple categories:
SMOSH (Comedy and Gaming): 7 YT channels with 25 active series that feature different formats and genres—scripted and unscripted comedy series, gaming, animation, and a full-length scripted situational comedy. SMOSH has accumulated 37 MM+ YT subscribers. Most Popular Video: Beef 'n Go - 101 MM+
Clevver (Entertainment news and Style): 6 YT channels with 13 active series. Clevver now boasts 9 MM+ subscribers as the number one entertainment news destination on YouTube. Most Popular Video: Renesmee in Breaking Dawn 2 - 15.4 MM+
ScreenJunkies (TV and Movies): 5 MM+ subscribers who are fans of our scripted and unscripted series taking a honest look at the biggest TV shows and movies. Most Popular Video: Honest Trailer Game of Thrones - 29 MM+
AWE me (Lifestyle): 3 MM+ subscribers love our channel built to Amaze. Wow. Educate. AWE me showcases the wow moments in pop-culture with DIY and how-to shows for superfans of video games, movies, comics, and TV. Most Popular Video: Man at Arms Thor's Hammer - 7 MM+
Made Man (Lifestyle): With over 40 MM+ lifetime video views, Made Man's shows have featured comedians Rob Riggle and Thomas Lennon, to create the perfect voice to reach men. Our resident experts focus on style, fitness, food, and feature speakeasy interviews with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Most Popular Video: Speakeasy Key & Peele - 2.1 MM+ video views.
Break (Comedy): Break is one of the best humor destinations for men. With over a billion lifetime video views and 2.8 MM+ subs, Break is the best for original series, pranks, and viral videos. Most popular video: Scare Pranks - 48 MM video views.
3. Marketing Infrastructure
Dedicated constant social, PR, and consumer marketing support.
4. Technology and Product
We continue to invest in cross-platform develop to make our content accessible just about anywhere.
The result has been a YouTube presence unlike any other. To date we have reached 64MM+ subscribers, a combined social following of 80MM+ loyal fans, more than 600MM monthly video views, and 66+ produced series across our brands. Our total YT subscribers also increased 33% from Dec 2014 to Dec 2015.
Our current line up now includes:
- 12 shows that average 1MM+ views/episode
- 22 shows that average 500K+ views/episode
- 12 channels with more than 2MM+ subscribers
- 4 Tentpole series with 5MM+ program views
Additionally, the popularity of our hosts has surged. In Variety's 2015 "YouTube vs Traditional stars" report, our SMOSH brand ranked as #1 most popular celebrity among teens. Our Clevver hosts Erin Robinson and Joslyn Davis have also extended their populatiry to televison—joining this season of The Amazing Race.
